Autosave: The Shing Mun Redoubt

This project is a reconstruction of a historical site in Hong Kong made as a playable map in Counterstrike: Global Offensive. It examines how historical landscape narratives transition into competitive game environments, and how the conventions of player behavior are challenged by an environment that prioritises geographical and historical accuracy over speed and symmetrical design. By working with local historians, surveyors and players, we discuss what aspects of the local history are communicated through our Counterstrike conversion, but also how the historical narrative is effected through its co-option into this popular competitive gaming format. By creating a slow and labyrinthine Counterstrike map, we disrupt the conventions of gameplay, and allow other elements of historical memory to influence the player experience. Our project will use this combination of disrupted player expectations, and the transformation of a historical narrative through a competitive online environment to examine the function of landscape in computer games.